Kids Bowl for Free ( and grown-ups hardly have to pay anything!)

Our wonderful speech therapist sent me an email about this a while back but I paid no attention. However, our fourth grader is having a field trip to a local bowling alley and after working out all of the necessary accommodations/modifications, I had bowling on the brain. (When it seemed that we couldn't work things out for him to be able to participate because the 2nd floor alley didn't have ball ramps, we did a hard sell on why he should really choose something else. As soon as we had him convinced, everything came together so that he could participate with his class.)

Luckily, I'd saved the email (because I never think to throw anything out until there is just no other option) and found it quite easily. The alley closest to our home, which I know is accessible and has a ball ramp, was participating. I could sign up all of our kids (age limit 15 years) for two free games a day. I was thinking of rainy days in summer or days when I just need to take them somewhere with air conditioning. After I registered, an offer appeared for a $23.95 bowling pass for up to 4 adults (family members, babysitters, etc) for the whole summer. Since I didn't want to just sit and watch the kids bowl, I decided that it was worth it. Even if we just go a few times (or twice as a whole family) it'll work out.

The website shows locations across the country. You might want to check it out.

http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/

More money saving ideas are on Frugal Fridays at Life as Mom:
http://www.lifeasmom.com/2009/05/frugal-friday-buy-spices-in-bulk.html

What free camps are in your area?

Search Google & local newspapers for free camps for your kids this summer. Our three youngest really enjoyed a three week day camp at our Children's Institute and it was specially designed to accomodate a variety of needs. In our area, the water treatment plant offers a camp that teaches kids the science behind purification of water in an environmentally friendly way. There is also a free camp for kids called "A Starfish can grow an arm, why can't I?" We are looking into a video game design camp for our oldest -- it's sponsored by local technology councils and is free of charge.As you go to the outskirts of our community, there are even more choices available.

For more Frugal Friday tips, go to Life as Mom: http://www.lifeasmom.com/2009/04/frugal-friday-reusable-baking-mats.html

Planning for Summer

Well, we're in full planning mode for summer now. Daniel & Nathan went to the Summer Camp Expo with me and we found some more interesting programs. The emails to plan for sleep-away camp have started and the weeks are getting blocked off on the calendar. All of the boys will go to a week of sleep-away camp with us and we hope that the 3 youngest can get into the 3 week day camp that they attended last year.

I'm looking into the Digi-Pen camp now that Drew is old enough. I'd love to get him into the Computing Workshop summer program at Duquesne, but our school district won't approve funding for it and it's a bit (no, a lot) too expensive for us to manage on our own. So I'll keep my fingers crossed for Digi-Pen & keep my eyes open for other opportunities. Drew will also be old enough for some of the high school/teen summer programs locally this year, but I don't know as much about those yet.

I'm not sure if we'll go to any medical conferences this summer -- the one I'm interested in is right before sleep-away camp. We're not due to go back to the NIH until next year, which disappointed the kids quite a bit. They love the Children's Inn and the rest of the place as well.

I should only have to present at a couple of workshops during the break. My goals are to keep clearing out stuff that the boys have outgrown, replace the carpeting, and rearrange the furniture. It seems like during the school/work year it's just a matter of scrambling from one week to the next which is really my only conflict about being at work. I also want to put my garden in again. I stopped when my mom was sick and didn't pick it back up, so this year I think that I'll make half the previous size & only put in the things that we totally loved. Probably just basil, tomatoes, watermelon & cantaloupes, squash, zukes, & cucumbers. If things get too hectic then I'll see if we can get added to the CSA delivery route.